Courtesy of Sandberg Guitars
Though he plies an upright in the video clip, his sleek electric bass harmonics and groove passage on the massive 1987 “sophisti-pop” hit “Mary’s Prayer” https://bit.ly/1wuI4KX with Meet Danny Wilson underpinned a timeless tune of its era – dare I say “standard.”
A busy session player who currently anchors Simple Minds, Gerard “Ged” Grimes is also a producer – composer for television , film, and video games (Earthworm Jim 3D, Enter the Matrix, Shrek 3, Amplitude and Quarrel); a sideman for noted Gaelic artists Kathleen MacInnes, Mackenzie, and Ellidh Cormack, and music business entrepreneur.
Ged is an endorser of Sandberg guitars and Mark Bass amplification.
Ged on stage with Simple Minds
“Big Music” https://youtu.be/mzpp8h_Vi2M
“Sanctify Yourself” https://youtu.be/ntYEE5ix2L0
“Waterfront” https://youtu.be/2VXGK_HHCkQ
Adept at fretted and fretless, Derek Forbes joined Scottish post-punk hit makers Simple Minds as they were about to wax their debut slab Life in a Day in at Abbey Road in early 1979.
A strong vocalist who toiled amid a barrage of sonic synths and guitars, Forbes anchored the band with a sharp tone, and funky rhythms which he mostly piled with a plectrum.
After getting the sack from Simple Minds, which Jim Kerr reportedly had misgivings of, Derek was a busy cat, working in a latter-day versions of Big Country and The Alarm, and smaller ensembles including Propaganda, Bolivian Dust, and Fourgoodmen which featured two of his ex-Minds mates, and leads Derek Forbes & The Dark.
He was voted Scotland’s Greatest Bassist in 2009, hosted his own Los Angeles based radio show aptly titled May The Forbes Be With You, and waxed a solo slab Echoes in 2016 comprised of Simple Minds tunes remade and remodeled!
Derek’s primary weapon of choice is the Fender Precision bass…
Derek Forbes Sound & Vision….
Simple Minds:
“I Travel” https://youtu.be/_6MwzSaBBQY
“Life In A Day” https://youtu.be/ILhTufh715A
“Changeling” https://youtu.be/DIL60rCoO8Y
“Waterfront” https://youtu.be/vxXfu-Kbtbc
“Film Theme” from Echoes https://youtu.be/Cb6dIKbQUz4
Derek Forbes & The Dark https://youtu.be/cvwv9GzE404
“Alive and Kicking,” “Games Without Frontiers,” “In The Air Tonight,” “Babooshka” “Don’t You Forget About Me”
Among the most prolific studio / sidemen in UK rock history, John Giblin’s career spanned six decades in a wide array of musical genres including pop, jazz, classical, rock folk, avante-garde and permutations thereof. Born in Bellshill Scotland, John stated paying in local band in his early teens and never looked back after migrating to London in 1970.
An early adopter of the fretless bass, Giblin was a dexterous player, rending pocket grooves, and countermelodies to enrich countless hits and album tracks.
His work on stage and on record included notable array of artists and seminal sides, as compiled by Know Your Bass Player Com reader Xavier Padilla: Eric Clapton, Sting, Mark Knopfler, Phil Collins, Brand X, Peter Gabrie, David Sylvian, Chris de Burgh, Masami Tsuchiya, Kate Bush, Scott Walker, Al Green, Duncan Browne, Joan Armatrading, John Lennon, Judie Tzuke, Annie Lennox, Roberta Flack, Paul McCartney, The Everly Brothers, George Martin, Gerry Rafferty, Hugh Masekela, Mavis Staples, Simple Minds, Jon Anderson, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, John Martyn, Richard Ashcroft, Franco Battiato, Saro Cosentino, Eros Ramazzotti Claudio Baglioni, Manolo García, Alan Parsons…
John Giblin Sound & Vision:
Simple Minds:
“Alive and Kicking” https://youtu.be/ljIQo1OHkTI
“Sanctify Yourself” https://youtu.be/sGQNRyxmhhg
“Don’t You Forget About Me” https://youtu.be/VQdhDw-hE8s
Kate Bush:
“Babooshka” https://youtu.be/6xckBwPdo1c
“Breathing” https://youtu.be/VzlofSthVwc
“Rubberband Girl” https://youtu.be/85wZw1O83aE
Peter Gabriel:
“Games Without Frontiers” https://youtu.be/3xZmlUV8muY
“Family Snapshot” https://youtu.be/EYnk8a–fXQ
Phil Collins:
“In The Air Tonight” https://youtu.be/YkADj0TPrJA
“Tomorrow Never Knows” https://youtu.be/5nH-sUGWALo